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03/07/2018 07:30 AMSince 1978, non-profit Guilford Center for Children (GCC) has quietly served the needs of the town’s working families and their kids. Now, thanks to energetic efforts like those of Jessica Catlin, many more community members are learning about GCC.
The Guilford native is now in her second year as director of GCC’s Guilford Before and After School Care (GBASC). Attended by hundreds Guilford kids during the school year and over the summer, GBASC offers nurturing, safe, active, and professionally staffed environments for students at times when their school isn’t in session. GBASC rents program space at three of the town’s elementary school buildings: Calvin Leete, Guilford Lakes, and A.W. Cox.
A 2006 Guilford High School (GHS) graduate, Jessica joined GBASC 10 years ago as college student, working part-time. After earning her bachelor’s degree in early education at SCSU, she was hired as a GSBAC head teacher. Next, Jessica became assistant director, working with long-serving GBASC director Rose Ann Kelley, who retired in 2015. In 2016, the GCC board invited Jessica to become the new director of GBASC.
At about the same time, GCC also hired Lisa Jones as the new director for GBASC’s sister program, GCC’s Early Education Program. The early education program gathers in GCC’s pre-school on Stone House Lane.
“Lisa and I came on at the same time, and I just love being able to work so closely with her to build up our programs separately, but together as well,” says Jessica. “We also have a lot of great plans for getting the GCC name out there—and getting all of our families together—with more family events, parents’ nights out, and fun fundraisers. We feel it’s really important to let people know who we are as GCC; we’re sister programs in one amazing organization, with one amazing board, and we’re here in the community.”
One event helping build the GCC brand is the new community dinner series at GHS. The dinners kicked off in fall 2017 with an inaugural, successful event, followed by an even more successful winter dinner.
Now, a Spring Community Dinner is here, coming to GHS on Thursday, March 8 from 6 to 8 p.m. The three-course seasonal meal, served up for very reasonable prices (at the door, $10 adults; children 12 and under $7) includes a gourmet as well as kid-friendly menu, live musical entertainment, and kids’ spring craft activities. More information is available at guilfordcenterforchildren.com.
This time around, GBASC and Guilford Public Schools (GPS) Dining Services will be joined in sponsoring the event by Melissa Jones Suncatchers. Suncatchers is not part of GCC, but a separate before-and-after care program at Melissa Jones Elementary School.
Jessica has been on board with the community dinners from the start, and says she was thrilled when GPS Dining Services Director Erica Biagetti first contacted her with the idea.
“I could not be happier with the community dinners,” says Jessica. “Erica developed it, then came to me with the concept, and I jumped on board. We’ve had a blast planning them.”
With the blessing of Superintendent of Schools Dr. Paul Freeman, Erica wanted each dinner not only to showcase a creative seasonal meal using quality food students receive at the town’s public schools, but to also act as a community-builder. Jessica immediately saw a wonderful opportunity to connect families from both areas of GCC programming as “one big family” enjoying a great event, as well as a way to help GCC give back to the community, and beyond.
“With the community dinners, we’re able to get our name out there, bring all of our families and the community together through food and fun, and help other non-profits,” says Jessica.
GCC will donate a portion of proceeds from the spring dinner to Guilford Youth & Family Services. Most recently, GCC donated more than $1,000 from winter community dinner proceeds to non-profit Women & Family Life Center, based in Guilford.
Giving—and Receiving—Community Support
As a non-profit, GCC relies on support from groups including Guilford Community Fund and Guilford Human Services Council as well as assistance from Guilford Foundation, the Interact Club, and Guilford Civic Women to offer quality programming and assist families with sliding scale enrollment fees and scholarships.
“Our goal is to never turn someone down based on their financial situation. That’s something we’re trying to get out to the community as well, that we do provide that financial assistance,” says Jessica. “We just want to let families know we’re here to support them, so they can work more hours, go to school, and have that career that they’re looking for to provide for their families and to better their families.”
GBASC also works to give families flexibility and an interactive, supervised place for kids to be engaged in activities and interesting programs during school vacations and other days off on the calendar.
“It’s so important to me to be in touch with Guilford Public Schools [GPS] to be able to offer all-day programs as many days as we can here in the buildings,” says Jessica, who works out of GBASC’s main office, based at Calvin Leete. “I start working with [GPS] at the beginning of the summer, so at the beginning of the school year I can tell parents, ‘These are the days off in the schools, but we’ll be able to offer a full-day program for you.’ The programs and special activities we bring in are great, and the families are so appreciative and grateful. That’s why we’re here, to support the families.”
Most recently, GBASC was up and running in February when GPS closed for President’s Day. Next, GBASC will be operating during April vacation (April 16 to 20), offering programming for all GBASC students, taking place at A.W. Cox Elementary School from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.
“Again, I have to give a big thanks to GPS, because we wouldn’t be able to provide that to families without their support,” says Jessica. “We’re very lucky to be able to be renting space in the school buildings and to work so collaboratively.”
Right now, Jessica’s ironing out details for summer GBASC programming, which starts up one week after school ends, then runs through August. She’s already introduced travel as part of the programming, and kids can join in part-time, full-time, or in other ways meeting their family’s summer weekday calendar demands. Summer programming is offered daily from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and students do not need to be enrolled in GBASC school-year programming to participate.
As with all child care programming, Jessica knows there’s plenty of competition out there, but she also knows she can bank on GBASC’s excellent reputation, flexible options, and evolving offerings to give the best assistance to families.
“We have a dedicated, educated staff who love their work, and our program has inherited great things from Rose Ann’s leadership of 30 years. I think lot of families keep coming to us because they love the consistency, they know and love our staff, and they know their children are getting a great experience,” says Jessica. “We’re also always evolving, with new things to offer, because times are changing.”
Jessica thanks not only her staff but also the dynamic GCC Board of Directors for their support in creating continuing opportunities for success for GSBAC and GCC Early Education programming.
“It’s a voluntary board composed of members from our community who believe in our non-profit organization’s mission to provide quality and affordable care to young children in our community,” says Jessica. “Lisa and I are very lucky to have their continued support in every aspect of our programs. We have board members whose children and/or grandchildren are currently enrolled or have attended [the] programs. They respect and appreciate what GCC stands for, and are dedicated to working with us to support the continued success of our community and family-based organization.”